Quick Publishing of Research Breakthroughs
Can Lift Stock, but May Undermine Science

By

Gautam Naik Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Jan. 28, 2002 12:01 a.m. ET

Earlier this month, Britain's PPL Therapeutics PLC issued a news release proclaiming the birth of five specially cloned pigs whose organs might be able to avert an immune rejection if transplanted into humans. The news was seen as a big step toward making animal-to-human transplants a reality -- and pushed up PPL's shares by 44%.

PPL, it turned out, made its announcement just two days before rival U.S. scientists were set to disclose similar results in a more old-fashioned way: in an article reviewed by other scientists...